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Something is really bugging me

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n2huntn:
It's good to hear there are responsible sportsman and craftsman speaking out,
N2

Badger:
  Not to flame you but the thread being reffered to at the other sight I feel was not wrong in anyway. Their was a dangerous snake on a path where folks would be crossing all day long, all weekend long actually. The snake was eaten and the skin was used. Good Job! Nothing like the round ups which I am very much against. Steve

kiltedcelt:
Badger,

My objection to the snake killing in that thread was that I couldn't believe that the snake could not have been relocated or otherwise avoided. I've since received a personal message from someone present at that shoot who feels that the snake could easily have been moved out of the way where everyone concerned would've been kept safe and the snake could go on it's way. Mainly, seeing that event got me thinking about snakes in general and that's when I decided to write discussing both that incident and the larger implications of using snake skins on bow backs. There are always two sides to something like this and my post on that other site has been locked because someone involved feels that my post was tantamount to a personal attack and that any further discussion would result in rancor that goes against site policy. Oh well. I feel like over here I've been met with a lot more in the way of intelligent discussion and open minds. And finally, you're right - killing one snake is not to be compared to a roundup, but at the same time I still gotta believe that could've been handled better. Had I been present (unfortunately I'm about 900 miles away), I could have easily relocated the offending snake. I actually work with venomous snakes daily as it's part of my job. Anyway, it's all water under the bridge. I just hope that by posting the thread I've been able to open some eyes to some of the hunting practices concerning snakes and give some people pause to think the next time before they kill a snake.

kiltedcelt:

--- Quote from: jackcrafty on May 10, 2010, 06:23:15 pm ---
It seems that opposition to "hunting" during roundups has been around for a while.  I was not aware of the use of gasoline, though.  The gasoline is definitely a bad idea.  I also didn't know that a snakes head lives on for a while after decapitation.

-Down in Georgia the DNR and GA EPA made the use of gasoline illegal but one of the main DNR agents assured me hunters who were supposed to be digging up the snakes were in fact still using gasoline because you could smell it on the snakes. Also, for those "hunters" who would take the time to dig the snakes out of burrows, they would need to relocate any Gopher Tortoises they found. In most cases the burrows that were dug up were destroyed meaning all the snakes and other critters using those burrows would need to find other burrows and compete to use them with their current inhabitants. In the Southwest, the chief species in roundups is the Western Diamondback and they tend to den in rock crevices. As far as I know, the guys collecting snakes for the Sweetwater roundup are still using gasoline.

I watched a show some years back of a couple guys catching snakes on the surface using a snake-handler's stick and then putting the snakes in a cloth sack.  They took the snakes to the round up and killed the largest ones and let the others go....after they were weighed and measured.  Seemed OK.

-DNR guys that I've talked to have said most snakes that are released from these roundups are not taken back to where they were caught. In most cases they're released in the area most convenient to the person releasing them. This results in competition between the released snakes and those already present in the area where the interlopers have been released. Snakes are solitary and territorial. Releasing them outside of their range where they were caught just causes numerous unforseen impacts on the ecology of the area.

As far as I can tell, here in Texas, the Parks and Wildlife guys are always present and seek to gather data on the snakes...including the effects of the "hunting".  I think the events are intended to be educational as well as profitable.  I'm ignorant, though.  I've never attended a roundup.

-In a lot of places where roundups occur, DNR officials are present to collect data on the snakes being brought in so they can determine whether roundups are sustainable in the long term. So far the data is not looking good. This can easily be a land-based repeat of the crash of the cod fisheries on the Grand Banks. The cod fisheries on the Grand Banks will easily need nearly something like 50 to 75 years minimum to recover from years of overfishing.

Good topic.


--- End quote ---

Badger:
  Kilt, I share a lot of your sentiments. No hard feeling toward you at all. Part of the bow building culture does involve skinning animals for parts of our bows or quivers or strings. I have been furious when I have seen golfer or king snakes slaughterd for no reason believe me. Myself personally I usually move rattlessnakes out of the way unless they have a particularly nice skin that i want. In that case I take it. A red tail hawk might very well come down and get that snake anyway. So no hard feeling toward you in anyway, just trying to see the other guy represented as well. Steve

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